Multi-dimensional commerce platform

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a multi-dimensional commerce platform that may be utilized for the communication of data. Aspects of the multi-dimensional commerce platform may include various functional components to facilitate a system to receive inventory data at a first server associated with the multi-dimensional commerce platform, provide a second server associated with a third-party (e.g., a third party seller/distributor) access to the inventory data, alter or modify the inventory data based on attributes of the second server, and cause display of a presentation of the modified inventory data at a client device.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/642,979, filed Jul. 6, 2017, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter of the present disclosure generally relates methodsand systems supporting online consumer interactions by users innetworked systems.

BACKGROUND

Conventional network-based marketplaces (e.g. consumer websites) provideusers with functionality to browse a collection of items (e.g. goods orservices) at a website and to make purchases of those items usingvarious means, on the website. While centralized e-commerce over the websolves the problem of reaching the largest possible user-base within asingle market, this centralized model lacks the scalability required toreach multiple markets and user bases simultaneously.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit itsscope to the illustrated embodiments. On the contrary, these examplesare intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents asmay be included within the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating various functional components ofa multi-dimensional commerce platform, which is provided as part of thenetworked system, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for causing display of apresentation of an item from among an inventory of items at a clientdevice, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for facilitating atransaction for an item, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram illustrating various interactionsbetween the multi-dimensional commerce platform, a second server, and aclient device, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an interaction diagram illustrating various interactionsbetween the multi-dimensional commerce platform, a second server, and aclient device, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an interaction diagram illustrating various interactionsbetween the multi-dimensional commerce platform, a second server, and aclient device, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of software,which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedherein, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to specific example embodiments forcarrying out the inventive subject matter of the present disclosure. Inthe following description, specific details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the subject matter. It shall beappreciated that embodiments may be practiced without some or all ofthese specific details.

Presently, enormous amounts of resources are expended by manufacturersin the marketing and distribution of products to diverse markets. Toreach and appeal to multiple distinct markets (e.g., foreign markets,distinct demographics), a single seller may maintain and manage multipleweb presences, wherein each web presence may be marketed differently, indifferent languages, or may even ship products from different locationsdue to logistical restrictions. As a result, users in small and lesspopular markets are often unable to purchase or even search for itemsoutside of their own market due to language barriers, logistical issuesrelated to currency exchange or payment methods, and a lack of sellerswilling or able to ship to locations within their market.

Similarly, sellers in small, less popular markets are often unable tobreach a larger audience, due to limitations in their ability to marketor distribute inventory outside of their own market. For example, amerchant in a small market may be unable to support traffic/bandwidthfrom larger markets outside of their own, or may be unable to facilitatetransactions across markets due to differences in payment methods orcurrency exchange rates. As a result, potential growth of these smallermerchants is limited.

Below are described various aspects of a multi-dimensional commerceplatform that may be utilized for the communication of data. Aspects ofthe multi-dimensional commerce platform may include various functionalcomponents to facilitate a system to receive inventory data at a firstserver associated with the multi-dimensional commerce platform, providea second server associated with a third-party (e.g., a third partyseller/distributor) access to the inventory data, alter or modify theinventory data based on attributes of the second server, and causedisplay of a presentation of the modified inventory data at a clientdevice. In some example embodiments as discussed herein, the inventorydata may be received from an inventory database of a seller. The sellermay include high volume sellers which collect inventory data frommultiple decentralized sources (e.g., Autotrader, StubHub), as well as aseller that maintains and manages inventory as a single pointdistributor. Thus, the inventory data may include aggregated inventorycollected at the seller database from multiple distinct sellers, as wellan inventory data managed and distributed by the seller independently.

A user may transmit a search request to the second server through agraphical user interface displayed at a client device. In response, thesecond server accesses the inventory data gathered from the first serverto generate and cause display of a set of search results that includeitems from among the inventory data at the client device. The inventorydata may comprise a set of items, wherein each item among the set ofitems has item attributes (e.g., an item description, a list price, aseller identifier, shipping details, item images, display language). Insome example embodiments, the multi-dimensional commerce platform mayenable the second server to provide display configuration details, suchthat the inventory data may be altered or modified before beingpresented at the client device, when the inventory data is accessedthrough the second server (i.e., instead of the first server). Forexample, the item attributes of the inventory data may be modified bychanging a display language, adjusting a price, and changing a shippinglocation or shipping options associated with an item.

The multi-dimensional commerce platform may receive transaction requestsfor items from among the inventory data, through the second server. Thetransaction requests received at the second server may be routed to thefirst server in order to cause a purchase of an item. In suchembodiments, from the perspective of a listing seller associated withthe item, the purchase of the item would appear to have been through thefirst server, while from the perspective of a buyer of the item throughthe second server, the purchase of the item would appear to be entirelythrough the second server.

In some example embodiments, the multi-dimensional commerce platform mayshare a portion of inventory data in a first server with a secondserver. For example, the multi-dimensional commerce platform may receivean inventory search request from a third party associated with thesecond server, wherein the inventory search requests identifies an itemor product category. For example, the inventory search request mayindicate a specific sport or sporting event (e.g., basketball, NBAFinals), sports team (e.g., Golden State Warriors), or product category(e.g., sports memorabilia). In response, the multi-dimensional commerceplatform may identify a subset of the inventory data based on theinventory search request, and provide the second server with access tothe subset. The third party associated with the second server maythereby generate and cause display of a graphical user interface thatincludes a presentation of the subset of the inventory data, wherein thepresentation of the subset is further based on one or more presentationconfigurations (e.g., a display language, a display currency, shippingmethods and price, additional fees).

In further embodiments, the multi-dimensional commerce platform mayreceive inventory data from a third party seller (e.g., StubHub),directly receive inventory requests from client devices, and alter apresentation of the inventory data for display at the client devices.For example, normally, the third party seller may host and distribute aninventory of items via a third party website, wherein the third partywebsite is accessible through an associated Uniform Resource Locator(URL). A client device may therefore view and shop the inventory of thethird party seller by accessing the URL through a browser, and inresponse the third party seller generates and causes display of apresentation of the inventory data at the client device. Whileeffective, the standard procedure greatly limits the reach of a smallthird party seller to a wide market. Additionally, the third partyseller may not be suited to handle larger volumes of traffic.

The multi-dimensional commerce platform may therefore receive theinventory data directly from the third party seller, wherein theinventory data comprises a set of items with corresponding itemattributes. Upon receiving an inventory request from a client device,the multi-dimensional commerce platform may alter the presentation ofthe inventory data to appear as though the inventory data is offered forsale through the multi-dimensional commerce platform. Thus, from theperspective of the client device, a transaction would appear to occurbetween the client device and the multi-dimensional commerce platform.The multi-dimensional commerce platform may thereby route a transactionrequest received from an item from among the inventory of items to thethird party seller.

In some example embodiments, the multi-dimensional commerce platform maymaintain a presentation configuration database. The presentationconfiguration database may comprise one or more presentationconfigurations, each associated with a corresponding source server(e.g., the second server). In response to receiving access requests forinventory data, the multi-dimensional commerce platform may parse theaccess requests to identify an identifier of a source of the requests(e.g., the second server), and retrieve a corresponding presentationconfiguration associated with the source. The multi-dimensional commerceplatform may modify or alter the requested inventory data in real-time,prior to distributing the inventory data to the requesting source. Inthis way, the presentation of the inventory data may be based on therequesting source.

In further example embodiments, the multi-dimensional commerce systemmay cause the first server to access and retrieve inventory data fromthe second server, and to modify or alter the inventory data forpresentation outside of the second server. The inventory data from thesecond server may thereby be accessible by users through the firstserver or the second server, such that presentation of the inventorydata vary based on the server in which a user accesses or searches forthe inventory data. For example, a user searching for an item among theinventory data through a first web site linked to the first server maybe presented with a first presentation of the item (e.g., in a specifiedlanguage, price, or presentation format), while a user searching for theitem among the inventory data through a second web site linked to thesecond server may be presented with a second presentation of the item,wherein the second presentation differs from the first presentation.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments. FIG. 1 is merely a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture, and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 102 may be executing onhardware such as a machine 800 of FIG. 8 that includes, among otherthings, processors 810, memory 830, and I/O components 850. Arepresentative hardware layer 104 is illustrated and can represent, forexample, the machine 800 of FIG. 8. The representative hardware layer104 comprises one or more processing units 106 having associatedexecutable instructions 108. The executable instructions 108 representthe executable instructions of the software architecture 102, includingimplementation of the methods, modules, and so forth of FIGS. 3-6. Thehardware layer 104 also includes memory or storage modules 110, whichalso have the executable instructions 108. The hardware layer 104 mayalso comprise other hardware 112, which represents any other hardware ofthe hardware layer 104, such as the other hardware illustrated as partof the machine 100.

In the example architecture of FIG. 1, the software architecture 102 maybe conceptualized as a stack of layers, where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 102 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 114, libraries 116,frameworks/middleware 118, applications 120, and a presentation layer1044. Operationally, the applications 120 or other components within thelayers may invoke API calls 124 through the software stack and receive aresponse, returned values, and so forth (illustrated as messages 126) inresponse to the API calls 124. The layers illustrated are representativein nature, and not all software architectures have all layers. Forexample, some mobile or special purpose operating systems may notprovide a frameworks/middleware 118 layer, while others may provide sucha layer. Other software architectures may include additional ordifferent layers.

The operating system 114 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 114 may include, for example, akernel 128, services 130, and drivers 132. The kernel 128 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 128 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 130 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 132 maybe responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlyinghardware. For instance, the drivers 132 may include display drivers,camera drivers, Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serialcommunication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fitdrivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth dependingon the hardware configuration.

The libraries 116 may provide a common infrastructure that may beutilized by the applications 120 and/or other components and/or layers.The libraries 116 typically provide functionality that allows othersoftware modules to perform tasks in an easier fashion than byinterfacing directly with the underlying operating system 114functionality (e.g., kernel 128, services 130, or drivers 132). Thelibraries 116 may include system 134 libraries (e.g., C standardlibrary) that may provide functions such as memory allocation functions,string manipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. Inaddition, the libraries 116 may include API libraries 136 such as medialibraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation ofvarious media format such as MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG),graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework that may be used to render2D and 3D graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g.,SQLite that may provide various relational database functions), weblibraries (e.g., WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality),and the like. The libraries 116 may also include a wide variety of otherlibraries 138 to provide many other APIs to the applications 120 andother software components/modules.

The frameworks 118 (also sometimes referred to as middleware) mayprovide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be utilized by theapplications 120 or other software components/modules. For example, theframeworks 118 may provide various graphic user interface (GUI)functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services,and so forth. The frameworks 118 may provide a broad spectrum of otherAPIs that may be utilized by the applications 120 and/or other softwarecomponents/modules, some of which may be specific to a particularoperating system or platform.

The applications 120 include built-in applications 140 and/or thirdparty applications 142. Examples of representative built-in applications140 may include, but are not limited to, a contacts application, abrowser application, a book reader application, a location application,a media application, a messaging application, or a game application. Thethird party applications 142 may include any of the built-inapplications, as well as a broad assortment of other applications. In aspecific example, the third party application 142 (e.g., an applicationdeveloped using the Android™ or iOS™ software development kit (SDK) byan entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may bemobile software running on a mobile operating system such as iOS™,Android™, Windows® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. In thisexample, the third party application 142 may invoke the API calls 124provided by the mobile operating system such as the operating system 114to facilitate functionality described herein.

The applications 120 may utilize built-in operating system functions(e.g., kernel 128, services 130, or drivers 132), libraries (e.g.,system 134, APIs 136, and other libraries 138), or frameworks/middleware118 to create user interfaces to interact with users of the system.Alternatively, or additionally, in some systems, interactions with auser may occur through a presentation layer, such as the presentationlayer 144. In these systems, the application/module “logic” can beseparated from the aspects of the application/module that interact withthe user.

Some software architectures utilize virtual machines. In the example ofFIG. 1, this is illustrated by a virtual machine 148. A virtual machinecreates a software environment where applications/modules can execute asif they were executing on a hardware machine e.g., the machine 100 ofFIG. 1, for example). A virtual machine is hosted by a host operatingsystem (e.g., operating system 114) and typically, although not always,has a virtual machine monitor 146, which manages the operation of thevirtual machine as well as the interface with the host operating system(e.g., operating system 114). A software architecture executes withinthe virtual machine 148, such as an operating system 150, libraries 152,frameworks/middleware 154, applications 156, or a presentation layer158. These layers of software architecture executing within the virtualmachine 148 can be the same as corresponding layers previously describedor may be different.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a multi-dimensionalcommerce platform 240 that provide functionality to maintain inventorydata at a server, allow access to the inventory data to one or morethird party servers, modify or alter the inventory data based on asource of a request to access the data, generate and cause display of apresentation of the modified inventory data, and facilitate transactionsfor items. The multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 is show asincluding an inventory module 205, an access module 210, and amodification module 215, all configured to communicate with each other(e.g., via a bus, shared memory, or a switch). Any one or more of thesemodules may be implemented using one or more processors 230 (e.g., byconfiguring such one or more processors to perform functions describedfor that module) and hence may include one or more of the processors230.

Any one or more of the modules described may be implemented usingdedicated hardware alone (e.g., one or more of the processors 230 of amachine) or a combination of hardware and software. For example, anymodule described of the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 mayphysically include an arrangement of one or more of the processors 230(e.g., a subset of or among the one or more processors of the machine)configured to perform the operations described herein for that module.As another example, any module of the multi-dimensional commerceplatform 240 may include software, hardware, or both, that configure anarrangement of one or more processors 230 (e.g., among the one or moreprocessors of the machine) to perform the operations described hereinfor that module. Accordingly, different modules of the multi-dimensionalcommerce platform 240 may include and configure different arrangementsof such processors 230 or a single arrangement of such processors 230 atdifferent points in time. Moreover, any two or more modules of themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240 may be combined into a singlemodule, and the functions described herein for a single module may besubdivided among multiple modules. Furthermore, according to variousexample embodiments, modules described herein as being implementedwithin a single machine, database, or device may be distributed acrossmultiple machines, databases, or devices.

In some example embodiments, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240may be in communication with third party server(s) 250, and clientdevice(s) 260. For example, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240may communicate, provide access, or stream, data (e.g., inventory data)to the third party server(s) 250 in response to receiving a data accessrequest from the third party server(s) 250. Similarly, themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240 may receive data from the clientdevice(s) 260 (e.g., inventory data).

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 for causing display ofa presentation of an item from among an inventory of items at a clientdevice, according to an example embodiment. The method 300 may beembodied in computer-readable instructions for execution by one or moreprocessors (e.g., processors 230 of FIG. 2) such that the steps of themethod 300 may be performed in part or in whole by functional components(e.g., modules) of a client device or the multi-dimensional commerceplatform 240; accordingly, the method 300 is described below by way ofexample with reference thereto. However, it shall be appreciated thatthe method 300 may be deployed on various other hardware configurationsand is not intended to be limited to the functional components of theclient device or the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240.

At operation 305, the inventory module 205 receives inventory data thatincludes at least a first item. For example, a client device 260 mayprovide the inventory module 205 with inventory data that represents aninventory of items, and wherein the inventory data comprises a set ofitems, wherein each item among the set of items has an associated set ofitem attributes. The item attributes may include an item description, anitem price, item images, as well as shipping details.

At operation 310, the access module 210 provides a second server (e.g.,third party servers 250) with access to the inventory data. The accessmodule 210 may receive an inventory request from an administrator of thethird party servers 250, wherein the inventory requests comprises a setof search terms and an identifier of the third party servers 250. Inresponse to receiving the inventory request, the access module 210provides the third party servers 250 with a portion of the inventorydata, wherein the portion of the inventory data is based on the searchterms of the inventory request.

For example, the inventory request may include search terms specifying aproduct category, a brand, or one or more item attributes (e.g., price,seller identifier, time on sale). In response to receiving the inventoryrequest, the access module 210 searches the inventory data to identifyone or more items among the inventory data based on the inventoryrequest.

In some example embodiments the second server (e.g., third party servers250) may be associated with a particular product category or inventoryrequest by the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240, such that asinventory data is received by the inventory module 205, the accessmodule 210 scans the inventory data to identify relevant items among theinventory data to share with the second server. The second server may beassociated with the product category “sporting goods.” As the inventorymodule 205 receives inventory data, the access module 210 may access andparse the inventory data to identify items among the inventory dataassociated with the “sporting goods” product category. The access module210 may thereby share the portion of the inventory data related tosporting goods to the second server.

At operation 315, the modification module 215 modifies one or more itemattributes of items among the portion of the inventory data. In someexample embodiments, the modification module 215 modifies the itemattributes based on the server identifier of the second server. Forexample, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 may maintain adatabase comprising configuration instructions of a set of servers basedon server identifiers of each server among the set of servers. Theconfiguration instructions may for example include a display language,pricing instructions, and display instructions. In further embodiments,the configuration instructions may be located at a database maintainedby the second server itself, and the modification module 215 may causethe second server to modify the item attributes locally before beingdisplayed at the client device 260.

The modification of the item attributes of the items from among theportion of the inventory data may include altering a display language ofthe item, adding, removing, resizing, or adjusting item imagesassociated with the item from among the portion of the inventory data,as well as adjusting a price associated with the item (e.g., increasingor decreasing the price by a predefined amount or percentage). Infurther embodiments, the modification of the item attributes may includechanging shipping details associated with the item from among theportion of items.

At operation 320, the second server (e.g., third party servers 250)generates and causes display of a presentation of the modified portionof the inventory data at a client device 260. For example, the clientdevice 260 may interact with the second server, by transmitting adisplay request to display the portion of the inventory data. Inresponse the second server generates and causes display of apresentation based on the modified portion of the inventory data.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method 400 for facilitating atransaction for an item, according to an example embodiment. The method400 may be embodied in computer-readable instructions for execution byone or more processors (e.g., processors 230 of FIG. 2) such that thesteps of the method 400 may be performed in part or in whole byfunctional components (e.g., modules) of a client device or themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240; accordingly, the method 400 isdescribed below by way of example with reference thereto. The method 400may be performed as a subroutine of operation 320 of the method 300,wherein a presentation of an item is generated and displayed based onmodified inventory data.

At operation 405, the second server (e.g., third party server 250)receives a transaction request for an item from a client device 260. Forexample, the second server may have generated and caused display of themodified portion of the inventory data at the client device 260. A userof the client device 260 may provide a user input that includes atransaction request to purchase an item, wherein the transaction requestincludes an identification of the item.

At operation 410, the second server facilitates a transaction for theitem identified by the transaction request, through themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240. For example, the second servermay route the transaction request to the multi-dimensional commerceplatform 240, and cause a purchase of the item to occur. In suchembodiments, from the perspective of the multi-dimensional commerceplatform 240, the parties to the transaction include the second serverand the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240, while from theperspective of the client device 260, the parties to the transactioninclude the client device 260 and the second server.

FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram 500 illustrating various interactionsbetween the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240, a second server(e.g., third party sever 250), and a client device 260, according to anexample embodiment.

At operation 502, as described in operation 305 of the method 300 inFIG. 3, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 receives inventorydata comprising a set of items. Each item among the set of items mayinclude item attributes, such as an item description, an item price,item images, as well as an indication of a shipping location of theitem, and a seller or retailer that carries the item. In some exampleembodiments, the inventory data may be received by the multi-dimensionalcommerce platform from a client device (e.g., client device 260), orfrom a server from among the third party servers 250. For example, theinventory data may be received from a third party website.

At operation 504, a second server (e.g., from among the third partyservers 250) transmits an inventory request to the multi-dimensionalcommerce platform 240. The inventory request may include one or moresearch terms such as specific item attributes (e.g., a productcategory). In some example embodiments, the second server (e.g., thirdparty servers 250) may transmit the inventory request to themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240 in response to receiving asearch request from a client device 260. For example, the second servermay be associated with a networked marketplace. A user of the clientdevice 260 may browse the networked marketplace and provide one or moresearch requests for items. In response to receiving the search requestat the second server, the second server may transmit an inventoryrequest to the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 in order toreceive and cause display of a set of search results comprising one ormore items, at the client device 260. At operation 506, themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240 identifies a portion of thereceived inventory data based on the inventory request from the secondserver, and at operation 508, the second server receives the identifiedportion of the inventory data.

At operation 510, the second server (e.g., third party servers 250),modify item attributes of the portion of the inventory data. Forexample, the second server may have an associated set of configurationinstructions, such that the inventory data is modified based on theconfiguration instructions. The configuration instructions may forexample include a display language, a price adjustment, as well as adisplay format. At operation 512, the second server causes the clientdevice 260 to cause display of a presentation of the modified portion ofthe inventory data.

FIG. 6 is an interaction diagram 600 illustrating various interactionsbetween the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240, a second server(e.g., third party sever 250), and a client device 260, according to anexample embodiment.

As discussed in FIG. 5, at operation 512, the second server causes theclient device 260 to cause display of the presentation of the modifiedportion of the inventory data. The presentation of the modified portionof the inventory data may include one or more fields to receive userinputs to purchase an item from among the modified portion of inventorydata. For example, a user of the client device 260 may provide a userinput that includes a transaction request into the presentation of themodified portion of the inventory data.

At operation 602, the second server (e.g., third party servers 250),receive the transaction request from the client device 260. In someexample embodiments, the transaction request may include anidentification of an item from among the modified portion of theinventory data, as well as a first payment means. For example, the firstpayment means may be a specific type of payment method associated withthe second server, such as a local currency, or a credit to a websiteassociated with the second server.

At operation 604, the second server parses the transaction request toidentify a seller of the item of the transaction request, based on theidentification of the item. The second server may access themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240 in order to retrieve additionalseller information.

At operation 606, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 receives apayment for the item, wherein the payment may include a second paymentmeans. The second payment means may be different from the first paymentmeans. For example, the second payment means may include a differentcurrency, or payment method (e.g., PAYPAL). At operation 608, themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240 notifies the seller of the itemof the transaction request, wherein the notification includes shippinginformation associated with the user of the client device 260.

FIG. 7 is an interaction diagram 700 illustrating various interactionsbetween the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240, a second server(e.g., third party sever 250), and a client device 260, according to anexample embodiment.

At operation 702, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 receivesinventory data from the third party servers 250. The third party servers250 may be associated with a third party seller, wherein the third partyseller has a corresponding URL used to distribute items represented bythe inventory data (e.g., StubHub). For example, the third party sellermay maintain the inventory data at the third party servers 250, andcause display of a presentation of the inventory data at client devicesaccessing the URL associated with the third party seller. As anillustrative example, the third party seller may be associated with awebpage accessible through a URL, and the inventory data may comprisetickets to sporting events. Users may access the URL of the third partyseller, and in response, the third party servers 250 generate and causedisplay of a presentation of the inventory data at client devices of therequesting users. The presentation of the inventory data may follow apresentation format associated with the third party seller—for example,the presentation may include a set of item listings with a specifiedorientation and arrangement, logos associated with the third partyseller, as well as shipping details based on a location of the thirdparty seller.

At operation 704, a client device 260 may transmit a request to themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240, wherein the request includes arequest to display inventory data. For example, the request may be asearch request into a graphical user interface associated with themulti-dimensional commerce platform 240, wherein the graphical userinterface is accessible through a URL. The search request may includesearch terms identifying item attributes of the inventory data.

In some example embodiments, operations 702 and 704 may occur in reverseorder. In such embodiments, in response to receiving a search requestfor inventory data (e.g., operation 704), the multi-dimensional commerceplatform 240 may request inventory data from the third party servers250.

At operation 706, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 alters thepresentation of the inventory data based on a set of presentationconfiguration instructions. The multi-dimension commerce platform 240may be associated with a networked marketplace, wherein users may uploadand create item listings for items, and buyers may view the itemlistings through a graphical user interface. In such embodiments, theitem listings may share a set of common listing attributes, such as apresentation format. The multi-dimensional commerce platform maytherefore modify the presentation of the inventory data by generating aset of item listings based on the presentation configurationinstructions. The presentation configuration instructions may forexample indicate a presentation format, as well as a display of logosassociated with the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240.

At operation 708, the client device 260 causes display of the alteredpresentation of the inventory data. From the perspective of the clientdevice 260, the inventory data may simply appear as though it is beingoffered through the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240.

At operation 710, the multi-dimensional commerce platform 240 receives atransaction request for an item from among the inventory data from theclient device 260. The transaction request includes transaction detailssuch as an identification of the item from among the inventory data, aswell as an identification of the client device 260. In some exampleembodiments, the transaction request may additionally include paymentdetails.

At operation 712, the third party servers 250 receive the transactiondetails of the transaction request from the multi-dimensional commerceplatform 240. The seller associated with the third party servers 250 maythen ship or otherwise transfer the item identified by the transactiondetails to the user associated with the client device 260.

Machine Architecture

FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 illustrating an architecture of software802, which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedabove. FIG. 8 is merely a non-limiting example of a softwarearchitecture, and it will be appreciated that many other architecturescan be implemented to facilitate the functionality described herein. Invarious embodiments, the software 802 is implemented by hardware such asa machine 900 of FIG. 9 that includes processors 910, memory 930, andI/O components 950. In this example architecture, the software 802 canbe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer may provide aparticular functionality. For example, the software 802 includes layerssuch as an operating system 804, libraries 806, frameworks 808, andapplications 810. Operationally, the applications 810 invoke applicationprogramming interface (API) calls 812 through the software stack andreceive messages 814 in response to the API calls 812, consistent withsome embodiments.

In various implementations, the operating system 804 manages hardwareresources and provides common services. The operating system 804includes, for example, a kernel 820, services 822, and drivers 824. Thekernel 820 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and theother software layers, consistent with some embodiments. For example,the kernel 820 provides memory management, processor management (e.g.,scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings,among other functionality. The services 822 can provide other commonservices for the other software layers. The drivers 824 are responsiblefor controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware, accordingto some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 824 can include displaydrivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low Energy drivers,flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., UniversalSerial Bus (USB) drivers), WI-FI® drivers, audio drivers, powermanagement drivers, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the libraries 806 provide a low-level commoninfrastructure utilized by the applications 810. The libraries 806 caninclude system libraries 830 (e.g., C standard library) that can providefunctions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulationfunctions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, thelibraries 806 can include API libraries 832 such as media libraries(e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of variousmedia formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), AdvancedVideo Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3),Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec,Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or Portable NetworkGraphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework used torender in two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) in a graphiccontent on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite to providevarious relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit toprovide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 806 canalso include a wide variety of other libraries 834 to provide many otherAPIs to the applications 810.

The frameworks 808 provide a high-level common infrastructure that canbe utilized by the applications 810, according to some embodiments. Forexample, the frameworks 808 provide various graphic user interface (GUI)functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services,and so forth. The frameworks 808 can provide a broad spectrum of otherAPIs that can be utilized by the applications 810, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 810 include a homeapplication 850, a contacts application 852, a browser application 854,a book reader application 856, a location application 858, a mediaapplication 860, a messaging application 862, a game application 864,and a broad assortment of other applications such as a third-partyapplication 866. According to some embodiments, the applications 810 areprograms that execute functions defined in the programs. Variousprogramming languages can be employed to create one or more of theapplications 810, structured in a variety of manners, such asobject-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++)or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In aspecific example, the third-party application 866 (e.g., an applicationdeveloped using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) byan entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may bemobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™,ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In thisexample, the third-party application 866 can invoke the API calls 812provided by the operating system 804 to facilitate functionalitydescribed herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine 900 in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine900 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions916 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 900 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. For examplethe instructions 916 may cause the machine 900 to execute the method 900of FIG. 9. Additionally, or alternatively, the instructions 916 mayimplement FIGS. 3-6, and so forth. The instructions 916 transform thegeneral, non-programmed machine 900 into a particular machine 900programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in themanner described. In alternative embodiments, the machine 900 operatesas a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine 900 may operate in thecapacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-clientnetwork environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (ordistributed) network environment. The machine 900 may comprise, but notbe limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer(PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box(STB), a PDA, an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, asmart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), asmart home device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a webappliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or anymachine capable of executing the instructions 916, sequentially orotherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine 900. Further,while only a single machine 900 is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include a collection of machines 900 that individuallyor jointly execute the instructions 916 to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein.

The machine 900 may include processors 910, memory 930, and I/Ocomponents 950, which may be configured to communicate with each othersuch as via a bus 902. In an example embodiment, the processors 910(e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction SetComputing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC)processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor(DSP), an ASIC, a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, forexample, a processor 912 and a processor 914 that may execute theinstructions 916. The term “processor” is intended to include multi-coreprocessors that may comprise two or more independent processors(sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructionscontemporaneously. Although FIG. 9 shows multiple processors, themachine 900 may include a single processor with a single core, a singleprocessor with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multipleprocessors with a single core, multiple processors with multiples cores,or any combination thereof.

The memory 930 may include a main memory 932, a static memory 934, and astorage unit 936, both accessible to the processors 910 such as via thebus 902. The main memory 930, the static memory 934, and storage unit936 store the instructions 916 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 916 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 932, withinthe static memory 934, within the storage unit 936, within at least oneof the processors 910 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), orany suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by themachine 900.

The I/O components 950 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific UOcomponents 950 that are included in a particular machine will depend onthe type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones will likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include sucha touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 950may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 9. The I/Ocomponents 950 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 950 mayinclude output components 952 and input components 954. The outputcomponents 952 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 954 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 950 may includebiometric components 956, motion components 958, environmentalcomponents 960, or position components 962, among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 956 may includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 958 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 960 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 962 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a GPS receiver component),altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detectair pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensorcomponents (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 950 may include communication components 964 operableto couple the machine 900 to a network 980 or devices 970 via a coupling982 and a coupling 972, respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 964 may include a network interface component or anothersuitable device to interface with the network 980. In further examples,the communication components 964 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 970 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

Moreover, the communication components 964 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 964 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components964, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Executable Instructions and Machine Storage Medium

The various memories (i.e., 930, 932, 934, and/or memory of theprocessor(s) 910) and/or storage unit 936 may store one or more sets ofinstructions and data structures (e.g., software) embodying or utilizedby any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein.These instructions, when executed by processor(s) 910 cause variousoperations to implement the disclosed embodiments.

As used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storagemedium,” “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms refer to a single ormultiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storeexecutable instructions and/or data. The terms shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external toprocessors. Specific examples of machine-storage media, computer-storagemedia and/or device-storage media include non-volatile memory, includingby way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), FPGA, and flash memory devices;magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The termsmachine-storage media, computer-storage media, and device-storage mediaspecifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and othersuch media, at least some of which are covered under the term “signalmedium” discussed below.

Transmission Medium

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 980may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, aWLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, the Internet, a portion of the Internet, aportion of the PSTN, a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, acellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network,another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks.For example, the network 980 or a portion of the network 980 may includea wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 982 may be a CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular or wirelesscoupling. In this example, the coupling 982 may implement any of avariety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single CarrierRadio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO)technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, EnhancedData rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G)networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High SpeedPacket Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by variousstandard-setting organizations, other long range protocols, or otherdata transfer technology.

The instructions 916 may be transmitted or received over the network 980using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., anetwork interface component included in the communication components964) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols(e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions916 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via thecoupling 972 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 970. Theterms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing andmay be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “transmissionmedium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any intangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying theinstructions 916 for execution by the machine 900, and includes digitalor analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software. Hence, the terms “transmission medium”and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of modulated datasignal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal”means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a matter as to encode information in the signal.

Computer Readable Medium

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium” and“device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to includeboth machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the termsinclude both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated datasignals.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: transmitting, from a serverto a networked platform, an inventory request that includes anidentifier and at least one term related to a first item; receiving, atthe server from the networked platform: inventory data having itemattributes, the inventory data being identified based on the inventoryrequest and having a first format; and configuration instructions basedon the identifier; modifying, at the server, at least one of the itemattributes based on the configuration instructions received from thenetwork platform such that the modified at least one attribute iscapable of being displayed on a client device in a second format wherethe modifying causes the at least one of the item attributes to bedisplayed on a client device in a second format that is different fromthe first format; and causing, by the server, a display of apresentation of the modified at least one item attribute in the secondformat at the client device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein themethod further comprises: receiving a transaction request for the firstitem; routing the transaction request to the server; and causing apurchase of the first item.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the itemattributes include a price and a first display language, and themodifying the at least one item attribute includes: translating thefirst display language to a second display language; and altering theprice.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions furthercomprise: receiving a search request that identifies the first item; andgenerating a presentation of the first item based on the modified atleast one item attribute.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the itemattributes of the first item include an item description, an item image,and a display format for the first item, and the modifying the at leastone item attribute includes modifying the item description, the itemimage, and the display format of the first item based on theconfiguration instructions.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprisingproviding access to inventory associated with the inventory request, theproviding access comprising: receiving an inventory search request; andretrieving a subset of the inventory based on the inventory searchrequest, the subset including the first item.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the causing display of the presentation of the first item at theclient device includes: generating a graphical user interface thatincludes the presentation of the first item.
 8. A non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium, storing instructions which, whenexecuted by at least one processor of a machine, cause the machine toperform operations comprising: transmitting, from a server to anetworked platform, an inventory request that includes an identifier andat least one term related to a first item; receiving, from the networkedplatform at the server: inventory data having item attributes, theinventory data being identified based on the inventory request andhaving a first format; and configuration instructions based on theidentifier; modifying, at the server, at least one of the itemattributes based on the configuration instructions received from thenetwork platform such that the modified at least one attribute iscapable of being displayed on a client device in a second format wherethe modifying causes the at least one of the item attributes to bedisplayed on a client device in a second format that is different fromthe first format; and causing, by the server, a display of apresentation of the modified at least one item attribute in the secondformat at the client device.
 9. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions cause the machine toperform operations further comprising: receiving a transaction requestfor the first item; routing the transaction request to the server; andcausing a purchase of the first item.
 10. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 8, the item attributes includea price and a first display language, and the modifying the at least oneitem attribute includes: translating the first display language to asecond display language; and altering the price.
 11. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receiving a search request that identifies the firstitem; and generating a presentation of the first item based on themodified at least one item attribute.
 12. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the item attributesof the first item include an item description, an item image, and adisplay format for the first item, and the modifying the at least oneitem attribute includes modifying the item description, the item image,and the display format of the first item based on the configurationinstructions.
 13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium ofclaim 8, wherein the operations further comprise providing access toinventory associated with the inventory request, the providing accesscomprising: receiving an inventory search request; and retrieving asubset of the inventory based on the inventory search request, thesubset including the first item.
 14. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 8, wherein the causing display of thepresentation of the first item at the client device includes: generatinga graphical user interface that includes the presentation of the firstitem.
 15. A system comprising: one or more processors of a server; and amemory storing instructions that, when executed by at least oneprocessor among the one or more processors, causes the server to performoperations comprising: transmitting, from the server to a networkedplatform, an inventory request that includes an identifier and at leastone term related to a first item; receiving, from the networked platformat the server: inventory data having item attributes, the inventory databeing identified based on the inventory request and having a firstformat; and configuration instructions based on the identifier;modifying, at the server, at least one of the item attributes based onthe configuration instructions received from the network platform suchthat the modified at least one attribute is capable of being displayedon a client device in a second format where the modifying causes the atleast one of the item attributes to be displayed on a client device in asecond format that is different from the first format; and causing, bythe server, a display of a presentation of the modified at least oneitem attribute in the second format at the client device.
 16. The systemof claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving atransaction request for the first item; routing the transaction requestto the server; and causing a purchase of the first item.
 17. The systemof claim 15, wherein the item attributes include a price and a firstdisplay language, and the modifying the at least one item attributeincludes: translating the first display language to a second displaylanguage; and altering the price.